This PlayStation Remote Play App Is Better Than Sony
One of my favorite innovations in modern gaming is the ability to stream what you play to your smartphone, whether from the cloud, home consoles, or PC. Streaming turns your phone into a Nintendo Switch-like laptop that can play games from any system it can connect to.
We’ve covered how to do this using the official apps from Sony , Microsoft, and Steam , but there is an unofficial third-party Android app called PSPlay that PlayStation fans should consider as it’s better than Sony’s official PS Remote Play app.
PSPlay works the same way as the Sony PS Remote Play app, but is faster to set up, more reliable, and includes important features not available in PS Remote Play.
There is one caveat: PSPlay costs $ 4 on Google Play , and the Sony PS Remote Play app is free. Some might not like the idea of spending money on something that Sony offers for free, but PSPlay features are worth paying for.
I bought PSPlay after I discovered that PS Remote Play does not support third party controllers, which is what I primarily use when playing Android games. You can use DualShock 4 or DualSense with any app, but PSPlay also supports third-party features like the Razer Kishi.
(Both apps offer touch controls, but come on, nobody wants to play with crappy on-screen buttons.)
Don’t get me wrong, I love DualSense , but I find that controller bodies like the Razer Kishi are better for handheld play, and PSPlay is the only way to use them with PS4 and 5 games.
PSPlay also connects to your PS4 or PS5 much faster than the official PS Remote Play app. It can take up to three minutes for my PS5 to recognize my phone via PS Remote Play, but it usually only takes a few seconds via PSPlay.
PSPlay also lets you play over a mobile connection, while Remote Play only works over Wi-Fi. This means PSPlay can stream games from your home to your phone on the go, and PS Remote Play will only work when your phone and consoles are on the same Wi-Fi network.
To be honest, I haven’t noticed any difference in latency or streaming quality between PSPlay and PS Remote Play over Wi-Fi – that’s how I play most of the time. Both apps work great if you have a strong Wi-Fi connection, although you may notice slight input lag if your connection is weak. However, the input lag is worse when playing PSPlay through a mobile device. It’s probably best to stick with Wi-Fi if you’re not one of the few people with 5G coverage, but being able to play through a mobile device still gives it an edge over PS Remote Play.